In the previous installments, we inventoried your current assets, liabilities, strengths and weaknesses. We also looked at your potential opportunities and threats to your future. Before deciding where to apply those assets and the focus of your creative effort, we need to total the current balances in each account of your life.
This is a crucially important step for two reasons:
Imbalance = Disaster
We often see people who have become successful in one area of life, but are utter disasters in many other areas. Tabloid magazines are full of this kind of drama, with headlines of bitter divorces, drunk-driving arrests, family feuds, racist rants, bulimia, drug rehab, depression and suicide attempts. Many of these same people, the ones many Americans idolize, are some of the most unhappy, insecure and depressed people you will find. Why? Their focus on succeeding in one area of life created a great imbalance with the other areas.
Remember the final words given to me by dad’s wealthy friend the day before he died? Read them (and live by them) HERE.
Be wary of the price the rest of your life has to pay for the success in one area of your life.
Wrong Account
Someone recently shared with me an incredibly poignant distinction, he said before you build your business plan, build your life plan. Figure out what kind of life you want to have first—where you want to live, what type of people you want to be surrounded by, whether you want to work nights and weekends, whether you want to travel (and how much and where), whether you want to be home for dinner every night, if you want a short commute, what type of environment you want to go to each day, how you want to dress, etc.
He said to then build your business or professional plan around these criteria.
Whoa! I have been doing it all backward! You?
Most of us have done exactly the opposite—we build our business plan first. We outline all our big goals, plans and ambitions, and then figure out how to fit our lives around them (usually sacrificing much of the rest of our lives). Or sometimes we define a professional plan by outlining the money we want to make and titles we want to obtain—again, sacrificing much of the rest of our lives. If we continue to live this way, when we get to the end of our lives, we’re likely to discover we paid too high a price and sacrificed what was really important in life, for too little.
“Life without balance can cost you your relationships. Life without balance can cost you your health. Life without balance can cost you your spirituality. Life without balance can cost you your wealth and your happiness. So find things to motivate you from all areas of life. Your success depends on it.” —Jim Rohn
Don’t let that happen to you… and now is the time to find the right balance for you and your life’s desires.
Download and complete the LIFE ASSESSMENT Worksheet and WHEEL OF LIFE Chart. This is worksheet set 4. It will have to be printed first to complete. You will not be able to fill in the form fields on your computer. (NOTE: The link will be sent via the e-mail feed. If you are just registering now, the link will be in the next feed along with links to all prior worksheets. E-mail feeds typically distribute later in the evening following posts published earlier in the day.)
Have you learned some new things about yourself? Have you discovered some gifts, attributes, opportunities and hidden potential you didn’t fully credit before? Share your experiences with this ongoing process in the comments below. You are also welcome to ask any questions you might have.